Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace
by kaseeey
Summary: Lucas Scott has everything to lose. He has a beautiful wife, and an adorable child. What happens when he finds out he could lose it all? LP.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Alright, I know the last thing I should be doing is starting a new story. But I couldn't help it :P Let me know what you think; if I should continue or not.

Title of the story from the Foo Fighters album.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Tree Hill :P

* * *

A ray of early morning sunshine shone through the curtains in the small Tree Hill house that Lucas and Peyton Scott called home. A home that was filled with love, laughter, and happiness. The two had finally found their place in the world, and with each other. The love that the couple shared, was the kind of love that was rare. And they both knew how lucky they were to have it.

The soft pitter-patter of little feet on the hardwood floors woke Lucas from his sleep. Lucas loved these early morning rituals more than anything. He didn't know how a three year old could wake up at the same time every day, but she managed. He felt the tug of his comforter, then little hands playing with his closed eyelids.

"Daaaaaaaaady!" the little girl whispered in his ear. "Its time to waaaaaaake uuuuup." The small three year old had positioned herself on her elbows, laying on her stomach in between her 'sleeping' parents. He didn't budge, and that made her impatient.

"Rooooarr!" Lucas screamed, sitting up fast and grabbing her; causing her to erupt in shrills of laughter.

"Daddy!! Put me down!!" she shrieked, giggling.

"Okay, if you insist," he said, placing her on top of his wife, who in turn opened her eyes and started ticking the girl all over.

"Mommy!" she said in a high pitched voice, burying her face in her mothers chest, muffling the sound of her loud giggles.

Peyton finally stopped tickling the breathless little girl only to whisper something into her ear, making her smile. Seconds later they both jumped on Lucas and began tickling him.

"Hey!" he yelled. "This isn't fair."

They finally gave up and Peyton settled back against Lucas, who wrapped an arm around her. Their daughter, Abby Scott laid flat on her father's stomach.

"Alright, Kiddo. What are you making us for breakfast?" Lucas asked his daughter, who jumped up excitedly hearing his question.

"What do you want?" she asked, pretending to hold a notebook and pen.

"I want pancakes and eggs... and toast," Peyton said. Abby scribbled on her invisible notebook, nodding.

"Okay, what do you want Daddy?"

"I want waffles and bacon... with a side of pickles," he said seriously.

"Ew!!" she shrieked. "Pickles?!"

"Yes, and we'd like our breakfast in bed please," he added.

"Okay, I'll be right back!" she said, bouncing off the bed and running into her room.

Peyton smiled and laid her head back down on Lucas' chest. "Well, that should buy us about five minutes."

Lucas laughed and pulled her chin up so he could kiss her. She scooted up in the bed and placed a hand on the back of his head, deepening their kiss. "Mmm... Good morning," she whispered, smiling.

"Good morning to you too," he said, running a hand through her blonde curls. Lucas Scott fell more and more in love with his wife each day.

"Do you have time to take Abby to Skills' today on your way to work? I've got to head in to the office pretty early," she said, snuggling closer to him.

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Wait, I've got an appointment at the doctor's today."

"Oh, yeah thats right. You need me to go with you? I can cancel today's plans if I have to."

"No, no.. I can go by myself," he said, rubbing her back.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, its just a yearly checkup. Nothing major," he reassured.

"Okay, well.. I guess I could take her to work with me and Skills could pick her up there," she suggested. Skills kept Abby during the days, as well as Nathan and Haley's kids, Jamie and Kaitlyn Scott. Jamie now 10, and his sister, Kaitlyn was 5.

"Okay, sounds good," Lucas said.

Their peace and quiet was soon interrupted by a little girl carrying a tray filled with plastic play food. She set the tray on the bed before pulling herself up. She picked the tray up once more, and crawled up to where her parents laid.

"Okay, Mommy...," she said, handing Peyton a plate with a plastic pancake on it.

"Daddy." She handed Lucas a plate with plastic broccoli, tomatoes, and pickles on it.

"Where are my waffles and bacon?" he asked, holding back a laugh.

"Sorry, Daddy. We were out."

He nodded and stared down at his plate filled with vegetables. Peyton picked up her plastic pancake and pretended to eat it in front of Lucas.

"Yuuummm..." she said, teasing him.

"Shut up," he said playfully, rolling his eyes.

Abby gasped. "Daddy said a bad word!"

"He did," Peyton agreed, looking over at Lucas.

"She was being mean," he said, pointing a finger at Peyton.

"Don't make scuses, Daddy," Abby said, sliding off the bed and running back into her room.

Peyton laughed and turned to Lucas, "Alright, I'm going to go take a shower. You get Abby ready."

"Noo.." he whined, pulling her back down onto the bed and rolling on top of her.

"Luke, I have to get up. I have work," she said, laughing.

"I'm sure you could be a little late... You own the place," he said with a smirk, leaning down and sucking on her neck.

"Lucas..." she moaned, tilting her neck. "She could come back in here any minute."

"So?" he said, smiling and kissing her lips while running a hand up her shirt.

She grabbed his hands and pushed him off her, "I'll make it up to you later, I promise." She kissed his nose and jumped out of bed, walking into the bathroom.

He groaned, "I'll remember that!"

* * *

"Morning, Molly!" Peyton called as she walked briskly into her record label, holding Abby's hand. Molly, who lived in Peyton's old house, had been working for Peyton since she graduated High School.

"Morning, Molly!!" Abby repeated cheerfully, just like her mother.

"Good Morning, Peyton, Abby. Peyton, Mia just called, she wants you to call her back. And don't forget about the recording this afternoon," Molly said, following Peyton to her desk.

"Okay, thanks," she said, sitting her things down on her desk and plopping down in the rolling chair. "Skills should be coming by around 12, could you let me know when he gets here?"

"Sure," Molly said sweetly and exited Peyton's office, making her way back to the front desk.

"Why do I have to go to Uncle Skillz's?" Abby asked with a pout that looked just like her fathers.

"Where did you learn that face?" Peyton asked, slightly amused.

"Daddy."

"Uh huh.. Well, you need to go with your Uncle Skills so Mommy can get some work done," Peyton said, pulling out a coloring book for Abby and handing it to her. "Work on this until he gets here okay? Then you can go play with your cousins."

"But I don't want to play with them.."

"Why not?" Peyton asked, coming down to the three-year olds level.

"Because, I want to stay here with you," she whined.

"I know, honey. But I have to work..." Peyton tried to reason with the little girl, but that look and those Scott eyes made her cave. "Alright, listen. If you go to Uncle Skills' for a little bit so Mommy can get her work done, I'll come pick you up early and we can make dinner for Daddy. How does that sound?"

"But you can't cook," Abby said as a matter of factly.

"Yes I can!" Peyton argued.

"No, Daddy says you can't cook..."

"Oh, and you believe everything your father says?" she asked.

"Duh," Abby said, rolling her eyes.

"Fine. We'll order a pizza," Peyton huffed.

"Yay!!" Abby exclaimed. "Can we watch Cinderella too?"

"But we've watched that everyday this week."

"Nuh uh," she sassed.

"Uh huh," Peyton said back in the exact same tone.

"But its my favrite movie!" she argued loudly

"Oh! I have an idea," Peyton said, bending down to her level.

"What?"

"How about you get your Uncle Skills to watch Cinderella with you?? I bet he would love that movie."

"Okay!" the little girl said excitedly. Peyton laughed, picturing Skills watching Cinderella with a three year old girl.

"Good, so what are you working on?" Peyton asked her after she had gotten settled at her desk.

Abby quickly hid her coloring book. "Its a suprise!"

* * *

"Lucas Scott," a nurse called from the door to the waiting room. Lucas stood up and walked towards the nurse. "Right this way."

He followed the nurse through dimly lit hallways until they came to an examining room. "You can take your shirt off and have a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly."

"Okay, thanks," he said, stripping off his shirt and sitting down on the examining table.

Awhile later, Dr. Williams appeared in the doorway. "Afternoon, Lucas," he said, extending his hand. "How are you?"

Lucas shook his hand. "I'm doing great, thanks," he said, slightly smiling.

"Thats good, how have you been feeling lately?"

"I feel fine," he said truthfully.

"Any shortness of breath?"

"No."

"Have you been exercising?" the doctor asked.

"Not recently, no. I've been pretty busy... haven't had much time."

"Are you still taking your heart medication?" The doctor made small notes on his clipboard.

"Yeah, I am."

Dr. Williams took out a stethoscope and placed it on Lucas bare chest. "Breathe In... And out."

Lucas followed the directions, and the doctor placed the stethoscope on his back. They repeated the process and Lucas was allowed to put his shirt back on. Dr. Williams made a few notes on his clipboard, then looked up.

"Lucas, is your afternoon free?"

"Yeah, I don't have anywhere to be."

"Good, we're going to do some heart tests. A nurse will be in to tell you what to do, this shouldn't take more than two hours."

"Okay..." Lucas said hesitantly. "Is this normal? I thought this was just an annual checkup.. I've never had to do this before."

"We are just taking precautions. Nothing to be worried about, yet."

"Yet?" Lucas asked, beginning to get worried.

The doctor stood up and paused at the door. "A nurse will be with you shortly."

He left in a hurry, closing the door behind him. Minutes later, he heard a nurse approaching his room. He looked up as she opened the door.

"Hi, Lucas. I'm Barbara Allen, and I'll be assisting with your heart tests this afternoon," she said in a cheerful voice. She took a seat in front of Lucas and looked down at his charts. "First of all, do you have any questions before we begin?"

"Uh, what's this for?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Well, its basically to make sure the blood is pumping into and out of your heart correctly. We are going to do some scans and take some blood. Then we are going to get you connected to a machine so we can monitor your heart rate while you walk on the treadmill," she explained.

"When will I know the results?"

"We should get the blood and scan results back in the morning. The nurse at the front desk will schedule you for a meeting with your doctor as soon as tomorrow. That sound good?" she asked, smiling. All her smiling was beginning to make him nauseous.

* * *

"Hey, Peyton!" Mouth said, swinging open the door of his and Skills' apartment. He was covered head to toe in flour.

"Mouth! What happened to you!?" Peyton asked, mouth a gaped.

He laughed. "Well... we were making cookies with Milly and it all kinda got out of hand."

"Oh, Mouth..." Peyton said, giggling. "Where's Abby?"

"In the kitchen," Mouth said, closing the door behind Peyton. They both walked into the kitchen to find three kids throwing marshmallows at Skills who was armed with a pot and pan.

"Mommy!" Abby screamed, dropping her handful of marshmallows on the floor and running over to hug her mother.

"Are you being good for Uncle Skills and Mouth?" she asked.

"Um...yeah!" Abby answered after thinking about it.

"Uh huh... Well, lets help them clean up and we can go home and make some dinner," Peyton suggested, picking marshmallows off the floor. Instead of throwing them away, she threw them at Skills, taking him completely off guard.

"Oh, Blondie. No you just didn't," he said with his brows raised.

"Oh, I think I just did," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, we'll just see if you get any cookies," he said as Millicent pulled freshly baked cookies out of the oven.

"Oh, come on!" Peyton exclaimed as her phone rang in her purse. She looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Hey!" Peyton said into the phone.

_"Hey you," _Lucas greeted.

"Where are you?"

_"At home, where are you?"_

"At Skills getting Abby," she said, ignoring her daughter screaming to talk to her dad.

_"Whats going on there?"_ he asked, laughing at all the background noise he heard through the phone.

"Oh, the kids are just terrorizing Skills and Mouth with cooking ingredients," she said.

_"Wow."_

"Yeah, I know," she said with a laugh.

_"I'll be glad when you get here... today's been a long day,"_ he said, plopping down on the couch with a beer in his hand.

"We'll hurry home," she said, making him smile.

_"Good, I love you."_

"Love you too, see you soon," she said, smiling as she shut the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Wow, I was not expecting this many responses for the first chapter! Thanks for the reviews, guys. I really appreciate it. And I'm sorry for not updating sooner... I've been busy. Now that I'm into this story, I promise the updates will come faster :P Leave a review and let me know what you think!

**Chapter 2**

**(Friday Night)**

"... And the princess and the boy lived happily ever after..." Peyton said quietly, closing the book and placing it on her daughter's night stand. She smiled at the tiny girl, already in a deep, peaceful sleep.

Peyton leaned down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she placed a kiss on Abby's forehead. "Night, baby girl," she gently whispered.

She tiptoed out of the room and quietly shut the door behind her, careful not to wake her daughter up.

Peyton smiled to herself when she saw her husband sitting at the desk, opposite their bed. He was focused on a page on the screen, but before she could get close enough to see what it was he was reading, he heard her behind him and he closed it out.

She walked over and sat in his lap. "Hey you," he greeted her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Hi," she whispered, leaning in and kissing him, pushing him further into the chair. "What were you looking at before I came in?" she asked curiously when she pulled away.

"Uh... just some online game highlights..." He had an uneasy tone in his voice that didn't go unnoticed by Peyton, but she ignored it for now. They had waited long enough for the much needed alone time.

"Oh," she said simply.

"So, how was your day?" he asked her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

"It was good, better now though," Peyton spoke with a smile. "What about yours?"

"It was... interesting," he answered. She gave him a puzzled look so he added, "I missed you though."

"I missed you too. Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"Just practice in the morning until around one," he said.

"What about tomorrow night?"she asked him.

"Yeah... actually I have a date with this really beautiful girl in Tree Hill."

"Oh yeah? Do I know her?" Peyton raised a brow and Lucas smiled.

"I don't know, she's pretty amazing."

"She is?"

He nodded and kissed her sweetly on the nose. "So, Abby's out?"

"Oh yeah, Skills wore her out today," Peyton said, laughing.

"Remind me to thank him later," he responded seductively, slowly kissing her neck.

"Uh huh," she nodded, placing her lips on his again.

Lucas moaned and shifted underneath her in the chair, trying to get comfortable. She ran a hand under his shirt, making him shiver at her touch. Getting impatient, he stood up with her; their lips never separating. Peyton's long legs wrapped around his waist as he walked over to the bed and gently laid them down. She moaned his name as he settled down on top of her and began to place kisses from her jaw down her neck.

Peyton's hands began to frantically unbutton the buttons on his dress shirt, throwing it on the floor. His lips parted from her skin only to slip off the tank top she had been wearing. He took a minute to drink in the sight of his wife. "I love you so much, Mrs. Scott," he said, running a hand through her messy hair as their lips met again for a long passionate kiss. She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue entrance while she blindly fumbled with his belt.

"I love you too," she whispered back when he broke away kick off his jeans. She laughed and rolled them over so she was on top. He smiled and ran a hand up her legs.

* * *

**(Saturday Morning)**

Peyton took her cell phone out of her purse sitting in the passenger seat beside her and hit speed dial 1.

_"Hey, you've reached Lucas. I'm not here right now. Leave a message,_" his recorded voice sounded on the other line.

She sighed and flipped through her address book, looking for the number to his office.

_"Hello?" _Nathan answered.

"Hey, Nate. Its Peyton," she said.

_"Hey, Peyton. What's up?"_

"Nothing much, I'm on my way to meet Haley for lunch. Can I talk to Lucas?"

_"Uh, Lucas isn't here," _he said hesitantly, furrowing his brows.

"Oh." Peyton had a confused stare in her eyes.

_"He called and asked me to cover for him this morning at practice," _Nathan said honestly.

"He told me he had practice this morning..." she said, confused as to why Lucas would lie about something so simple. Unless... he didn't want her to know where he was.

_"I don't know where he is, Peyton. I'd say try calling Skills, but he just walked in with your kid."_

"Oh, well... thats okay. Thanks, Nathan," she said quickly and hung up before he could say anything else.

"Was that my mommy?" Abby yelled, running into her fathers office with Skills following close behind.

"Yeah, it was," Nathan answered her, scooping the little girl up in his lap.

"I wanted to talk to her," Abby said quietly, melting Nathan's heart.

"You can talk to her later, okay?"

"I guess," she said, pouting.

"Where's Luke?" Skills asked Nathan from the doorway.

"Um, I don't really know. Peyton said he told her he'd be here, but he told me to come in because he had something to do.." he answered, shaking his head.

"I'm sure its just a misunderstanding, dawg," Skills said, trying to shake Nathan of any possibilities he might have running through his head.

* * *

"Lucas Scott," a nurse called off a clipboard at the door way of the doctor's office. Lucas stood up and walked over to her, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Right this way, sir."

They walked through a long hallway of offices until they came to one at the very end.

"Hello, Lucas.. I'm Dr. Shepard," the man greeted, standing up from his swivel chair and extending a hand to Lucas. He was a man of about 40 years, with short gray hair.

"Hey," he said uneasily.

"Do you have anyone that you want to be with you during this meeting?"

"Uh... no. Its just me."

"Alright, have a seat," the doctor sat back down and pulled out a file.

Lucas sat in a chair opposite the desk and began to unconsciously tap his foot against the hard wood floor.

"Lucas, I called you in here today to discuss your condition. After the tests that we ran yesterday, we've discovered that your heart condition has been gradually worsening since your last visit. Basically, you have a buildup of plaque in your arteries leading to your heart. As this problem grows worse, the heart grows weaker and is less able to pump oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. Because the heart must work harder to pump blood through the body, it tries to make up for this extra work by becoming enlarged, or hypertrophied. In time, the heart works so hard to pump blood that it may simply "wear out." It is unable to meet even the smallest pumping demands." The doctor spoke slowly and clearly.

"So... what does all this mean?" Lucas asked, his face turning pale.

"Well, in your particular case... I recommend a heart transplant."

"Tr-transplant?" he stuttered.

"I'm sorry, Lucas.. but this is your best chance for a long healthy life."

"Oh... so, um. Uh, what do I do next?"

"I will contact the transplant team and we will talk about your medical history, current condition, physical abilities, test results, and other important information. The team will carefully review your medical history. You must then have a complete evaluation to find out how severe your condition is. Do you have any questions? I know this is a lot to take in, in one day.." The doctor began to gather up pamphlets.

"What are.. uh.. What are the chances?" he asked carefully.

"Your chances of survival are higher if you have the transplant. Its a good thing we caught it early enough, so you have plenty of time to wait for a donor. I recommend you go home and discuss this with your family," the doctor suggested.

"Yeah... thats going to be a little harder than it sounds." Lucas ran an hand through his hair and sighed. There was no way he could tell Peyton right now. Life was finally looking up for them, and to tell her this would send it all crashing down.

"Here are some pamphlets for you to read through," the doctor said, handing them to Lucas. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call."

"Alright... thanks," Lucas took them and stood up from the chair.

"I'll see you next week."

* * *

"Hey, Karen," Haley chimed as she and Peyton walked into the cafe and took seats at the counter.

"Hey, Haley.. Peyton," Karen said, pouring them two cups of coffee.

"So, are you going to tell me what's really going on?" Haley pestered, sipping her coffee.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "What do you mean? Going on with who?" Karen asked, confused.

Haley filled her in. "She was quiet the whole way over, and she's got that deep brooding look she gets when something is wrong."

"Oooh," Karen sighed, and looked at Peyton. What's wrong honey?"

"Nothing... its nothing," she mumbled.

"C'mon, Peyton. I know when something is wrong," Haley persisted.

Peyton sighed, "I'm probably just freaking out over nothing..."

"Peyton, talk to us," Karen said, focusing on her daughter-in-law sitting across the counter from her.

"Last night, Lucas told me he had practice today until one... But I just called and he wasn't there. Nathan said he told him to cover for him today... I know its not a big deal... Its just that he's never lied to me before," Peyton spilled.

"That is something, Peyton!" Haley exclaimed, giving her friend a half-hug.

"No.. its not. I'm sure its nothing..."

"This doesn't sound like Lucas... Something must be going on," Karen said as she refilled the napkin dispensers.

Haley stared at Peyton dead in the eyes. "There's something else you aren't telling us," she stated.

"...Last night he was being all secretive on the computer," Peyton added.

"What do you mean? Secretive?" Haley scooted her stool closer to Peyton, intrigued by the conversation.

"I came up behind him and he closed it off really fast, and when I asked him about it.. he didn't even have an answer. Just mumbled something about game highlights."

"Hm.." Karen thought. "Just ask him about it. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation."

"I guess," Peyton sighed.

"I'll ask Nathan if he knows anything when I get home.. those two have been getting pretty close lately," Haley told her.

"Am I wrong for freaking out over this? It feels wrong.." Peyton looked out into the distance.

"No, you're not wrong.. Its completely normal to be worried when someone you trust lies to you," Karen said.

Peyton did trust him. More than anyone in the world. But, she couldn't help but wonder. What if?

"When he starts getting all quiet and distant, thats when you start worrying.." Haley said, making Peyton's stomach churn.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she stuttered.

"Nothing.. nothing. Forget I said anything.." Haley said, taking a big drink of her coffee.

"No, no... you don't think? You don't think he's--?" Peyton said, a small tear forming in her eye.

"No! No... at least. I don't know... Just talk to him," Haley said quickly.

"Okay.."

"Promise me you'll talk to him," Haley insisted.

"I will."

* * *

"Peyton! I'm home!" Lucas called as he walked into their house. All the windows were shut and the lights were out, except for the light coming from the TV. He walked further into the living room to see Abby sitting on the couch watching cartoons.

"Daddy!!" she shrilled, sliding off the couch and running over to him.

"Hey, baby.. how was your day?" he asked, squatting down to her level.

"Good... I played with Chester!" she said excitedly.

"You did?" he asked in the same tone, pretending to be interested.

"Can I get a bunny, Daddy??"

"Uh, I don't know... Why don't we talk to your mother about that?" he suggested, avoiding the situation.

"Okay," Abby answered and bounced back over to the couch and pulled herself up on it.

He took off his jacket and draped it across the back of the chair before heading down the hall towards his bedroom.

He opened the door and saw Peyton laying on top of their bed asleep. He smiled and walked over to her, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He lowered his head and kissed her forehead. She began to stir and slightly opened her eyes.

"When did you get home?" she asked, sitting up.

"Just now," he answered. He could tell something was wrong, she never slept during the day and it looked like she had been crying.

"Where were you this morning?" she asked again, getting straight to the point.

"I was at practice," he said, confused. He thought he remembered to tell her.

"No! You weren't!" she yelled, standing up and walking across the room, leaving him sitting on the side of the bed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!! I don't know why you are lying to me.." she said, shaking her head and pacing across the floor. He just sat there, stunned. He didn't know what to say.

"Peyton." He stood up and walked over to her, grabbing her shoulders. "Trust me.. Okay?"

"I'm trying, Lucas... but why won't you just tell me what's going on?" she cried.

He tried to tell her the truth. But the words wouldn't come out. He didn't know why he couldn't just tell her and get it over with. However, something inside of him told him that if he told her, it would only hurt her worse.

**Credit goes to Google for all the information about HCM... lol. I hope all of it sounded believable :P**

**Review!!**


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